1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dolly carriers of material, articles, or debris, and particularly to a tarpaulin dolly suited for use on uneven services, such as a pitched roof, and a method of moving material, article, or debris such as dislodged and removed used roof shingles.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of wheeled dollies for moving material, articles, or debris and a wide variety of other objects is known in the prior art. More specifically, wheeled dollies heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment numerous objectives and requirements. While such traditional devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, wheeled dollies heretofore have been ill-suited for use in certain environments having uneven surfaces, such as a pitched, inclined roof.
By way of example, housing structures and the like are generally constructed with inclined roofs. The roofs are covered with a plurality of overlapping, horizontal, aligned rows of roof shingles. Once roof shingles are applied, in time, due to wear or re-shingling requirements, it is often desirable to dislodge and removed the applied roof shingles. Although pry bars and certain hand tools, such as the roof shingles remover tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,390, the disclosure which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, can be employed for this purpose, it is now customary for roofers to use a variety a mechanical roof shingles removing machines. Known prior art roof shingle removing machines include the devices disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,479; 4,880,491; 5,800,021; 6,105,470; 6,112,413; and 6,116,117, the disclosure of such patents being hereby also incorporated by reference herein. Usage of such machines necessitates a collection, moving, and removal of heavy piles of dislodged used roof shingles which are often fragmented, a laborious and time-consuming process which is complicated by difficulties presented by a sloped roof surface and its attendant height.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,916 there is disclosed a roofing shingle dolly, for positioning piles of shingles upon predetermined location of a sloped roof, formed of a shingle support platform mounted upon casters for rolling up and down a sloped roof surface, and an adjustable, V-shaped fitting for engaging over and securing to the roof ridge, with a cable connecting the platform to the fitting and being releasably frictionally clamped to the platform so that a roofer may move the dolly towards or away from the fitting by pulling or loosening the cable and temporarily clamp it to hold the dolly in predetermined positions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,962 there is disclosed a container for supporting roofing materials and related totals including a base plate formed of a rigid material having upper and lower edges and tapering side edges therebetween. One upstanding lower wall is coupled at its lower edge to the lower edge of the base plate and upstanding side walls extending upwardly from the side edges of the base plate from the lower edge to along the side edges.
While the devices of the above referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,916 and 5,477,962 fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the same patents do not disclose Applicant""s tarpaulin dolly and method of use thereof which substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus and method primarily developed for the purpose of removing dislodged roof shingles from an inclined roof.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided tarpaulin dolly comprising a first base plate having an upper facing surface and an underside surface, a plurality of wheel assemblies attached to the underside surface of the first base late, a tarpaulin sheet disposed upon an upper facing surface of the first base plate, a second base plate disposed above the tarpaulin sheet, and structure for securing the first and second base plates together and securing the tarpaulin sheet there between. The first and second base plates and the tarpaulin sheet have vertically aligned holes to accommodate a nut and bolt securement of the same, and the wheel assemblies, to each other. The tarpaulin sheet comprised of a strong, reinforced, flexible material, preferably in rectangular shape, has a flexibility sufficient to form an inner fold thereof neighboring at least one of the wheel assemblies to serves as a wheel chock brace with respect thereto. The tarpaulin sheet further includes handhold holes for hand grasping an area of said tarpaulin sheet near its outer periphery to aid in pull tow or moving of the tarpaulin dolly.
The present invention also includes a method of moving material, article, or debris using the tarpaulin dolly which is particularly useful in removing used roofing shingles from the environment of pitched roofs. The method includes the steps of (a) providing a tarpaulin dolly of the present invention to a location, (b) placing material, article, or debris upon the tarpaulin sheet or the second base plate, and (c) moving the tarpaulin dolly. Optional step of (d) unloading the material, article, or debris from tarpaulin dolly, may be employed.
The present invention advantageously provides a structure and method for collection, moving, and removal of material, article, or debris, such as heavy piles of dislodged used roof shingles, suitable for use on inclined surfaces. The tarpaulin dolly of the present invention and its method of use saves substantial time, manpower, an effort in many laborious and time-consuming tasks, such as the collection, moving, disposal of used roofing shingles, a process which is complicated by difficulties presented by a sloped roof surface and its attendant height.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and the accompanying figures illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention, the same being the present best mode for carrying out the invention.